Holy crap! The 8 GB RAM upgrade is expensive! I don't get it. Are they using special DIMMs or something? The same upgrade for my Windows desktop would cost me less than half of that price (over $700 direct from Crucial).

Are you getting it directly from Apple? Their memory upgrades are expensive... have you tried OWC or Ramjet?

I'd still buy the quad-core Mac Pro. I'd probably get by with the single processor Mac Pro, but the quad-core will be worth more down the road. Especially as images files increase in size, so does the need for more processing power to maintain the speed of workflow. Running Lightroom on my G4 is like watching concrete dry!

the imac is a laptop that has a hell of a lot nicer screen than even the best of laptops out there. in fact its screen is worth more than most windows laptops that i see around.

The 24" iMac has a LG S-IPS display, which is indeed professional-grade were it not for the glossy treatment.

The 20" iMac has an AU Optronics M302EW02 panel that is not LED-backlit and is TN, i.e. quite low-end. It's probably better than laptop panels, but not by much. I'd much rather have an HP LP2475w or even a Samsung P2370L when it comes out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al4x

i cant see the apeal of those semi desktop semi laptop imacs, like an awkward laptop, or expensive tower unit, not as portable as a laptop, not as powerful as a desktop

Having just seen how hard it is to upgrade the HDD in an Imac these days, now I see why they came up with Time Capsule..

Upgrading the HDD in iMac is actually not that bad IMHO, as long as you've messed around inside PC towers or similar before. (Just got to be ready to get your hands dirty and ensure the display stays clean.) Updated my late 2007 24" to 1TB HDD back in March. Took a total of 1 hour of my time and some suction cups